DU sophomore Adam Murray, who entered the season 1A on the goaltending depth chart ahead of freshman Sam Brittain, will make his first start since Oct. 15 and his first appearance since Nov. 6 in Friday’s series-opening game at Alaska-Anchorage.

“Adam has worked hard and has continued to keep a positive outlook. He deserves it,” DU coach George Gwozdecky told me today.

“Great” Brittain has made 14 consecutive starts since Murray suffered a groin injury on Oct. 19 in practice, and has started 15 in a row overall. The 6-foot-3 newcomer is 10-4-2 with a 2.08 GAA and .929 save percentage.

Murray started the season opener at Vermont, a 5-3 win, and took the 6-2 loss against Boston College the following week. He allowed four third-period goals after replacing Brittain in the 9-2 disaster at CC last month. Murray hopes to improve on his 5.74 GAA and .827 save percentage in his hometown.

Indeed, Murray is from Anchorage.

“He’s going to want to play well, but (because it’s his hometown is) not the reason we’re playing him,” Gwoz said.

I let Gwoz go at that point of the conversation. The man is ill. He sounded awful. Bad, bad cold. He’s trying to stay away from the team until game time tomorrow.

As expected, freshman wing Jason Zucker and sophomore center Drew Shore will report to Albany, N.Y., next week and represent DU in the final U.S. World Junior camp. Freshmen forwards Beau Bennett and Nick Shore did not make the cut, which will be announced Tuesday by USA Hockey in Buffalo, host of the Dec. 26-Jan. 5 World Junior Championship.

My sources confirmed Zucker and D. Shore made the 27- to 29-man preliminary roster and, if they remain healthy, are considered first-line players for the final 22-man squad. They will miss DU’s Dec. 31-Jan. 1 nonconference series against Northern Michigan.

Shore is having a sensational season, leading DU in goals (13), points (24), plus-minus (plus-13), power-play goals (four) and game-winning goals (three). Among freshman, Zucker leads the country in goals (12) and has a team-high 71 shots. He is third among Pios in plus-minus (plus-8), behind Shore and 2009-10 U.S. World Junior teammate Matt Donovan (plus-11). Zucker was the youngest member of the prestigious U.S. team last year.

DU freshman wing Beau Bennett suffered what was thought to be a serious knee injury in Friday’s 5-4 overtime victory at top-ranked Minnesota-Duluth. He missed Saturday’s 2-1 loss to the Bulldogs.

The Pioneers returned to Denver today and team spokesman Erich Bacher said Bennett’s injury might not be as bad as first feared. They’re listing it as a knee sprain, and he will be reevaluated Monday or Tuesday.

While unfortunate, the injury comes at the best time of year. DU visits Alaska-Anchorage this weekend and is then idle until Dec. 31, when it begins a series against Northern Michigan. DU then has a bye week and resumes Jan. 14 at Minnesota State. Bottom line: If Bennett needs a month to recover, he’ll only miss four more games.

His candidacy for the U.S. World Junior team, however, is probably in doubt. The 28-man preliminary roster will be announced Tuesday.

No, it’s Sam Brittain, the 18-year-old from Calgary. He just looks like Marc Cheverie, the former All-American he replaced at DU. And just like Chevy, Brittain is struggling early in his freshman campaign. After the first period against Lethbridge, Brittain has faced six shots, and the Pronghorns put three pucks behind him.

I’ll catch up with Brittain after the game and we’ll have a short story about his debut in Monday’s paper. For now, I bet I’m not the only one watching Brittain and being reminded of Chevy … Just like Chevy, Brittain is 6-foot-3 and wears No. 1 on his sweater. He’s also a draft pick of the Florida Panthers, the team Chevy signed with in April.

BTW, it’s 3-1. Freshman Beau Bennett scored a power-play goal for the Pios, who are actually playing with more energy, early on, that is, than they did Saturday night against the U.S. 18-under team. The Pios scored six third-period goals in that one to win 8-1. It was the most goals DU scored since the 2004-05 NCAA championship team beat Air Force 9-4 and Alaska-Anchorage 8-4.

The Western Collegiate Hockey Association media poll, now produced by Minnesota-Duluth radio guy Bruce Ciskie, was released Wednesday. We ran most of it in today’s paper, but didn’t include all the players receiving votes.

For what it’s worth, I voted for F Jason Gregoire as preseason player of the year and F Jason Zucker as preseason rookie of the year. Gregoire, a North Dakota junior, was supposed to play at Denver and Zucker is beginning his freshman season at DU. Gregoire, who signed his letter of intent to attend DU but changed his mind before mailing it, only recieved one other vote, and I was the only one who voted for Zucker.

My reasoning: I thought Gregoire was UND’s top end-to-end forward last season, partly evidenced by his team-leading 20 goals. I won’t be surprised if he nets 30 this season for a better team. And Zucker, although undersized, has a ton of international experience and is a fierce competitor. He was the youngest kid on the gold-medal winning U.S. World Junior Team last year and I think his experience will help him avoid the usual freshman adjustment. So I think he’s going to play like a sophomore.

The net came crashing down on Denver goalie Adam Murray after Mercyhurst winger Derek Elliott attempted a wraparound shot in the second period. The University of Denver Pioneers hockey team hosted Mercyhurst at Magness Arena Feb. 5, 2010. (Karl Gehring, The Denver Post)

Today I ran into DU freshman goalie Adam Murray, the probable successor to junior Marc Cheverie — who will soon announce a deal with the NHL’s Florida Panthers, erasing his final year of NCAA eligibility — while taking a look at the school’s new athlete-only weight room. I had heard a rumor that Murray was thinking about returning to his hometown, Alaska-Anchorage, and play with the Seawolves, so I asked him.

Murray laughed. He had heard the same rumor. But he said there is nothing to it. He loves Denver. He’s excited about the chance to replace Cheverie next season. And he’s already working out hard towards his goals.

Murray, 18, will battle for next season’s starting position with incoming freshman Sam Brittian, 17. Brittian just finished his rookie season in the Alberta Junior Hockey League. Indeed, DU’s goaltending will be young, but it won’t lack size. Murray is 6-foot-2, and Brittian is listed at 6-3.

DU freshman goalie Adam Murray, who had a rough start to his career, might get the nod Friday against visiting Mercyhurst. Pioneers coach George Gwozdecky said All-American candidate Marc Cheverie will definitely play at Air Force on Saturday.

In six appearances, Murray is 2-3-1 with a 4.36 goals-against average and .838 save percentage. He hasn’t played since Nov. 7, when he lost 7-3 at Alaska-Anchorage — his final game of subbing for the injured Cheverie.

Chevy is 14-3-3 with a 2.02 GAA and .932 save clip.

“We’re definitely going to play Chevy on Saturday night. We haven’t made a final decision about Friday night yet, and we won’t make that decision until probably after our noon practice. But we certainly are considering Adam,” Gwozdecky said.

I’m against linking or cut-and-pasting stories from other outlets, but I’m breaking the rule this time — partly because it’s from the blog of Erich Bacher, DU’s sports information director. He wrote the following item today from Madison:

The Pioneers arrived into Madison on Thursday afternoon and practiced at an ice rink that is connected to the Dane County Coliseum, the old home of the Wisconsin Badgers. The return trip to the arena brought back fond memories for DU head coach George Gwozdecky, who played for the Badgers in the middle 1970s.

Gwozdecky took me on a mini tour of the arena, pointing out the site of the home and visitor benches and his stall in the locker room. Most importantly, Gwozdecky showed me the exact location of his seats for a 1975 Bruce Springsteen concert that promoted his newly-released Born to Run album. Gwozdecky spoke highly of the old barn and I could relate – I witnessed many Badger victories as a kid growing up in Wisconsin as a Badger hockey fan. He also diagrammed the setup for a Grateful Dead Show and showed me the press box, where he provided analysis for several games as a fifth-year senior in 1977.

PREGAME, 5:27 MT

Greetings from Wisco, where the No. 1 Pioneers feel like the underdog to begin a two-game series at No. 3 Wisconsin. No surprises in DU’s lineup, given that we knew defensemen John Ryder and William Wrenn made the trip but must serve one-game suspensions for coming off the bench to participate in the postgame brawl after the Pios’ previous game. The NCAA only allows a 22-man traveling party, so Ryder and Wrenn are tonight’s scratches. The lineup:

Rakhshani-Ruegsegger-Colborne

Maiani-Martin-K. Ostrow

Glasser-Shore-Knowlton

S. Ostrow-Gifford-Vossberg

Wiercioch-Lee

Donovan-Nutini

Phillips-Brookwell

Cheverie, Murray

Among those not making the trip: F Luke Salazar, F Nate Dewhurst, D Jon Cook

Donovan is back in the lineup for the first time since Dec. 12 at Minnesota-Duluth. He’s missed the past four games because of Team USA World Junior duty, and resting after it. Nutini is back after missing the Alaska-Anchorage series with a foot injury.

DU’s goals-for/goals-against numbers make it hard to believe the Pioneers are the country’s top ranked team. In WCHA play, DU (10-3-3) is just plus-7 in scoring margin (47-40). Overall, the Pios (14-5-3) are plus-12 (69-57). To that end, I filed the following story for tomorrow’s paper:

As college hockey’s top-ranked team and a legitimate favorite to win the national title, the University of Denver sure has plenty of statistical pimples. Rated 24th nationally in scoring and 17th in defense, the Pioneers have been accused of occasionally playing short of their potential.

Perhaps that’s a product of beginning the season No. 1 and playing the country’s second most difficult schedule. But in any case, it’s a good problem to have when you’re No. 1 with room to improve.

“We’re capable of a lot more, and that’s exciting to me,” DU coach George Gwozdecky said. “We’ve shown glimpses of the kind of team we can be, and it’s up to us as coaches to bring that out of our team. Certainly, that’s an exciting goal for us.”

On the strength of going a combined 6-0-1 against Minnesota, North Dakota, Colorado College and Boston College, DU enters this weekend’s showdown series at No. 3 Wisconsin atop the two national media polls and tied with Miami (Ohio) in the all-important PairWise Rankings (PWR).

The PWR mimics the method used by the NCAA selection committee to seed its 16-team tournament, so currently, DU would garner a No. 1 regional seed and begin against one of the field’s weakest teams.

Still, DU is annoyed at the games it gave away. In addition to ties at home against Minnesota State and Alaska-Anchorage, there have been blowout losses at Ohio State (4-0), at Alaska-Anchorage (7-3) and at Minnesota-Duluth (6-3).

While the Pioneers have won or split every series and went 2-0 to capture the Denver Cup, they have not won more than three consecutive games.

It takes four straight wins to win the NCAA title.

“Some nights, some guys are going and other guys aren’t,” senior forward and team captain Rhett Rakhshani said. “I’m not going to call them out individually, because there have been nights I could have played better.

“What’s been our downfall _ if it makes sense to use that term _ is that we’ve given up some games because everybody hasn’t been onboard. We’ve talked about complacency, and we think we know how to fix it.”

The keys of improvement are on offense. DU needs more from the all-junior line of center Jesse Martin and Anthony Maiani and Kyle Ostrow, and senior checking-line forwards Matt Glasser, Brian Gifford and Brandon Vossberg.

Maiani, who produced team-highs in assists (30) and points (41) last season, has just 14 points (three goals) in 20 games.

“Individually, a lot of guys could be doing better, and that’s a good thing,” Maiani said. “The potential is there, especially my line. Maybe it’s a confidence thing, but that’s something you can turn around quickly.”

Glasser, Gifford and Vossberg have combined for just six points (three goals) while taking on valuable forechecking and defensive responsibilities. None of them have been scorers at DU, but as seniors, they were expected to chip in more frequently.

“We went into this year looking at the roster and knew we could have a pretty potent offense,” Glasser said. “Has it happened? No. But we have so much depth; it’s kind of easy for some guys to get singled out like that.”

As Glasser noted, the Gifford-centered line with Vossberg and freshman Chris Knowlton (at the time, he’s now pegged to play with Glasser and Drew Shore) was perhaps DU’s best unit in its last series, against Alaska-Anchorage. Even though they’re not producing points, Gifford and Vossberg are playing well at both ends.

The Pioneers have received what they expected from most of their top players. Rakhshani (team-high 15 goals and 29 points) and junior goalie Marc Cheverie (12-2-2, .932 save percentage) are bona fide Hobey Baker Award candidates as national player of the year.

Top-ranked DU is scheduled to take eight defensemen and just 12 forwards to Madison for this weekend’s series showdown at No. 3 Wisconsin. Defensemen John Ryder and William Wrenn will be the Pios’ extra (and ineligible) players in Game 1 on Friday.

Ryder and Wrenn will serve one-game suspensions Friday for coming off the bench in the post-game brawl Jan. 9 against Alaska-Anchorage, the last time DU played. Having them both travel in the limited (22 player) party means the Pios aren’t bringing an extra forward in case somebody gets hurt or suspended Friday. Of course, either one is capable of mucking it up in the offensive corners and backchecking, so it’s not a big deal if one of them is moved to forward.

Junior defenseman Chris Nutini, who missed the Anchorage series with a foot injury, is good to go. He said he’s still a little sore from the shot he took off the foot against BC on Jan. 2, but he’ll be fine.

Junior forward Jesse Martin spent part of this week at his parent’s home in Edmonton, where his mother underwent serious but successful surgery. Martin will travel and play. From what I’m told, Jacquie Martin is doing well.

WCHA-leading Denver has additional motivation to win the MacNaughton Cup as regular-season league champion. If the Pioneers do that, they’ll likely place 10th-place Michigan Tech, unquestionably the league’s weakest team, in the first round of the WCHA playoffs. Finishing second, however, could require a best-of-three series against Alaska-Anchorage, currently in ninth place, two points behind Minnesota State. DU doesn’t want that. The Pioneers — speedy, skilled and perhaps a little soft in spots — don’t want to see tough, gritty and relentless UAA again, particularly at a time when the big picture is a week in front of them.

I talked briefly with UAA coach Dave Shyiak after Saturday’s series finale at Denver. Understandably, he was not in a very good mood. Unquestionably, his team deserved more than a point in the 1-1 tie and 3-2 loss. The Seawolves (6-13-1, 4-11-1 WCHA) either match up extremely well against skilled DU, or they just played extremely well against the Pioneers. I’ll go with the former.

“I thought it was a great series. There wasn’t much difference between the first place team versus the ninth,” Shyiak said. “After not playing for more than a month (Dec. 5), I thought our guys played great and deserved better fate. I thought penalties caught up to us, but when you’re a first-place team and you’re in their home barn, they’re going to get the calls, and they got several calls tonight.”

DU played UAA in last year’s WCHA first round, sweeping in very tight 3-2 and 4-3 games. In hindsight, those games could have taken a big toll on the Pioneers, who went 1-2 the rest of the way, losing their final two games in ugly fashion.

Looks like DU defensemen John Ryder and William Wrenn will be unavailable Jan. 22 when DU plays next to begin a two-game series at Wisconsin. Ryder and Wrenn were among 14 players that brawled at the end of the Pioneers’ 3-2 victory over Alaska-Anchorage on Saturday night. I can’t confirm this just yet, but they were two of four players to come off the bench. UAA’s Jared Tuton and Chris Crowell also got game DQs, which carries an automatic one-game suspension. I know Crowell, who got double DQs, also came off the bench, and he also got an instigating minor. Here is the official summary of the post-game penalties that wasn’t available until late Saturday night, after officials reviewed the video: (Keep in mind further suspensions could come down from WCHA commissioner Bruce McLeod, who attended the game.)AKA-9 Lee Baldwin (2-Roughing) 20:00

DU rallied with a Tyler Ruegsegger goal in the final minute of regulation to beat gritty Alaska-Anchorage 3-2 at Magness Arena. The win kept DU in front of Minnesota-Duluth atop the WCHA heading into a bye week. The Pios next play Jan. 22 at Wisconsin, but some players may have to serve a suspension.

At the buzzer, a brawl broke out near the DU penalty box, with at least five fights unfolding before the eyes of WCHA commissioner Bruce McLeod. Some were minor grab-a-guy situations, but others heated up pretty good. It’s 11:02, past my deadline, and officials still haven’t ruled on penalties and probable suspensions. I hear DU’s Rhett Rakhshani and John Ryder are suspension candidates. I’m almost positive UAA’s Chris Crowell was one of two players to come off the bench and square up.

Big-time letdown from last Saturday’s comeback win over Boston College. DU was off all night and was lucky to get the point. Anchorage played well and was the better team for much of the night. Marc Cheverie had 27 saves and Jon Olthuis made 31 stops. Both were good but weren’t really tested.

From my game story:

DU’s top six forwards combined for just seven shots, and none more than three apiece. Joe Colborne and Kyle Ostrow failed to produce a shot, and Rhett Rakhshani and Tyler Ruegsegger combined for just three. Anthony Maiani had three shots and Jesse Martin one. Leave it to fourth-liners Brandon Vossberg (team-high six shots) and freshman Chris Knowlton (four) to carry the load.

“Anchorage coming off a month off not playing a game, I think some of our guys, in fact too many of our guys, thought it was going to be an easier game,” DU coach George Gwozdecky said. “We learned the lesson tonight, hopefully. We had a one-way conversation in the locker room after the game, and I expect our team and the guys that are in the lineup (Saturday) to come out and be much more prepared to play a tougher, stronger, better-executed game and at least give ourselves a chance. I don’t want to see another frustrating game like tonight.”

SECOND INTERMISSION, tied 1-1, 9:16 p.m.

More coffee, please. This game is ugly from a DU perspective. If you’re a UAA fan, you’re loving it … DU’s top scorers haven’t done much of anything besides get frustrated. Joe Colborne, Kyle Ostrow, Jesse Martin and Drew Shore have zero shots, and Rhett Rakhshani, Tyler Ruegsegger and Anthony Maiani have just one. DU has 21 shots through two periods but very few scoring chances. Since I brought this up, I’ll update when it’s over.

PREGAME, 6:57 p.m.

DU begins a two-game series against Alaska-Anchorage tonight at Magness Arena. Junior defenseman Chris Nutini is out with an ankle/foot injury. He blocked a shot against BC but returned and finished the game. He practiced, albeit in orange, this week. Regardless, it’s a good opportunity for freshmen William Wrenn and Paul Phillips to both play.

DU defenseman Patrick Wiercioch practiced today, after suffering what many thought could be a season-ending knee injury in Saturday’s 4-4 tie against CC. The standout sophomore is probable for Friday’s series-opening game at Minnesota-Duluth, and he has made arrangements to report to Team Canada’s final World Junior Championship camp on Saturday in Regina, Saskatchewan.

Wiercioch, who will miss DU’s 2009 finale Saturday, is surprised that his knee has responded so well.

“Saturday was as bad as it’s ever been,” Wiercioch told me of his injury today. “Surprisingly, I went to the doc yesterday, and the word he used was ‘shocked’ at the progress it has made in two days.”

I previously reported that Patty injured his left knee. In reality, he reinjured his right knee, the one he originally hurt Nov. 7 at Alaska-Anchorage. I was mistaken because CC’s Stephen Schultz put him out of last Saturday’s game with a check to Wiercioch’s left knee.

“(Schultz) got me on the other knee, but when I opened up, my right leg was the one still on the ice and it just twisted too far to what I was able to do,” Wiercioch said. “It’s surprising, because those knee braces do a great job. It’s kind of scary to think what it would have been without the knee brace.

“The doc was shocked twice. One, he said to re-aggravate that injury through the knee brace would have taken some real force. And the second thing was how much it’s scared up in the past day or so. It’s just positive.”

After the hit — and while play continued until Mike Testwuide scored on a 2-on-1 rush with Wiercioch gasping in pain just 10 feet away — Patty thought his season could be over.

“Obviously, Saturday night I was pretty crushed. We had a chance to get a firm grip on the Gold Pan in our own barn, and the place was packed,” he said. “It was an awesome atmosphere. Selfishly, I was looking ahead to the World Juniors. It’s my last chance at that, and if I wasn’t cleared to play (this weekend) it would have been tough. God has a plan, and hopefully that plan is to wear red and white this Christmas.”

Patty didn’t want to talk much about Schultz. When asked if the league should consider punishing the forward, Patty said: “No comment.”

I saw the play on video several times. Patty was skating the puck out of the DU zone up the right wing. He fed the puck to a teammate up ice and Schultz came into him like a bowling ball, knees bent, hunched over, head down.

“I felt that, while the play has moved on, he tried to finish the check,” Wiercioch said. “He may have not necessary been late, but the position he was in — he wasn’t in position to make the check clean, so to speak. I chipped the puck by him and he stuck out, trying to hit me.”

Wiercioch isn’t positive he will travel with DU. He felt good at practice today but expects to be sore Wednesday. If he goes to Duluth on Thursday morning, his path to Regina on Saturday won’t be easy. He’s scheduled to go from Duluth to Minneapolis, Minneapolis-Denver and Denver-Regina, then collect his Team Canada equipment and jump on the ice for a 30-minute skate.

“I think it will be mainly determined (Wednesday) if I can play Friday,” he said. “Hopefully it will be as good as it was today.” About Saturday’s travel, he said: “Good 10 hours of travel time, so I have to make sure my leg can hold up, and get off the plane and get on the ice. I’d rather get back in the game, see the speed of the game. My first commitment is DU, and Duluth is a great series to be in, a great place to play. If I’m able to, I’ll play.”

At the beginning of the season, depth was a big reason why the University of Denver was going to have a great hockey team. The opening-night lineup was bound to change, time and again. But personally, I didn’t figure the numbers game would shake out this way.

Senior defenseman Cody Brookwell and sophomore wing Luke Salazar have been hanging out in the doghouse, watching games from the stands. Neither has played in the past four games.

The 6-foot-4, 225-pound Brookwell – DU’s only senior blue-liner – played in 78-of-81 games the past two seasons, but has missed eight of 14 games this year (two because of illness). We all knew the Pioneers were incredibly deep on the back end, but Brookwell was deemed one of the untouchables because of his size and experience.

“I hate sitting in the stands watching,” Brookwell told me today. “As a senior, you want to be in there. It’s the last kick of the can for me and we have a heck of a team. Watching the guys battle – guys that you’ve battled with for 3 ½ years — and not playing is tough. But I’m trying to do everything I can in practice to change things. I’m working my (tail) off.”

Brookwell played in the first four games, but was a healthy scratch in the Oct. 23-24 series sweep at Minnesota. He also missed the ensuing series-opener against Minnesota State, but played in the finale. The next week, he was scratched in Game 1 at Alaska-Anchorage, and served as the seventh defenseman in Game 2. He battled the H1N1 flu virus the following week, before and during the North Dakota series. He was scratched in last weekend’s set against St. Cloud State. Last week’s D-corps featured two recruited walk-ons in Chris Nutini and John Ryder, sophomores Patrick Wiercioch and John Lee, and freshmen Matt Donovan and William Wrenn. Freshman Paul Phillips and Brookwell were the odd men out.

Meanwhile, Salazar had 15 goals in 39-of-40 games as a freshman, but went goalless in the first 10 games this year, and that was it. The Thornton native and recruited walk-on hasn’t played since the Anchorage series. DU doesn’t need a 155-pound forward in the lineup if he doesn’t score. The options have been freshmen Chris Knowlton (5-10, 185) and Shawn Ostrow (5-10, 190).

“I have to work harder in practice. The first month or so I kind of took it for granted,” Salazar said. “I wasn’t giving it my all. Now I notice it, and I’ve sat down with the coaches. They’ve told me straight up what I need to do . . . I think I’m getting it back more and more in practice. I’m scoring more and more. At the beginning of the year I wasn’t really scoring at all, either, and that showed in the games. Now, I’m putting in the work in practice, and hopefully that will show in games.”

DU goalie Marc Cheverie returned to the ice today, skating lightly without pads, less than two weeks since he was cut in the left calf by an errant skate blade in a game against Minnesota State. He told me the 30-some stitches required close the wound came out last Saturday, and he’s been off crutches since Monday. He hopes to return to practice next week, perhaps Monday, and be ready to go for the big Nov. 20-21 series against North Dakota at Magness Arena.

Defenseman Patrick Wiercioch, meanwhile, is further out from returning. The preseason all-WCHA pick and All-American candidate injured his right knee late in last Saturday’s 7-3 loss at Alaska-Anchorage. It appears Wiercioch has a strained MCL and will not require surgery, but he could still be more than a week out from returning to practice.

Said Cheverie: “(The doctors and trainer Aaron Leu) just told me I could go out there on skates today. I feel pretty good, trying to get the flexibility back. I saw the doc (Wednesday) night and he said I could go out. We’ll see how it goes.”

Asked when the latest he could return to practice to be prepared for next Friday’s Sioux game, Chevy said: “Friday morning. It’s not going to be hard to get up for those games. You might feel a little rusty but I’ll be ready to go. I feel like I could play right now. I’m riding the bike, and I don’t feel that what has happened will get me out of shape.”

Wiercioch absorbed a low body check from a UAA defenseman. Asked if it was a knee-on-knee, Wiercioch said: “I want to say it was. It was a bit of a low hit. He went down to try to catch me.”

Wiercioch briefly remained in the game. “Initially, when I went down I did a full flip in the air, came down and thought, ‘This could be bad.’ The first thing that ran through my mind was (Tyler) Bozak’s knee injury last year. Initially, I think because of the adrenaline, I kept playing and it didn’t feel too bad. Five minutes later, it didn’t feel good and I got off the ice and said, ‘That’s it.’ I was hoping I just tweaked it but apparently it’s more.”

Wiercioch was scheduled to undergo further evaluation Thursday night and learn more about his injury.

“It’s feeling and getting better daily. I feel that if it’s torn like Bozak’s it wouldn’t be like that,” he said. “Monday’s going to be a little soon (to return to practice). It’s day-to-day until I can get a brace. You don’t rush something like this. Obviously, I want to be back for North Dakota like Marc, but if it’s going to hurt us more than help us as a team it’s a decision coach is going to have to make.”

DU coach George Gwozdecky isn’t ready to make that decision. “No clue,” Gwozdecky said if Wiercioch could be ready for the Sioux series. “He wouldn’t have been able to play this weekend, and we’re hopeful he can go next weekend.”

Terry Frei graduated from Wheat Ridge High School in the Denver area and has degrees in history and journalism from the University of Colorado-Boulder. He worked for the Rocky Mountain News while attending CU and joined the Post staff after graduation. He has also worked at the Oregonian in Portland, Ore., and The Sporting News. His seventh book, March 1939: Before the Madness, was issued in February 2014.